Thong (clothing)

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This article is about the thong underwear and swimwear. For other uses, see Thong (disambiguation).
Woman's thong swimwear.
Woman's thong swimwear.

Thong underwear and swimwear is a style characterized by a thin strip of material along the center of the garment's rear designed to sit between the wearer's buttocks connecting the front or pouch to the waistband behind the wearer. [1] Thongs come in a variety of styles depending on the thickness, material, or type of this rear portion of fabric and are available for both men and women throughout the world. Thongs are similar to g-strings, the main difference being that thongs have more material between the legs and back whereas a g-string has less, usually an actual "string" of material. Retailer FreshPair defines thong as "An underwear style for both men and women with a thin fabric back that rests between the buttocks" [2] whereas a g-string is "A panty with a very thin (string-like) band of fabric in the back." [3]

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Thongs are believed to be descended from the earliest form of clothing, the loincloth, which were generally a male's clothing item, the reverse of modern western culture where the thong has more acceptance among women. In modern clothing, thongs first became popular as a swimsuit style in Brazil. The origin of the word "thong" is from the Old English thwong, a flexible leather cord. [4]

The first direct descendant of the loincloth, in the direction of thong, was the jockstrap, created by Chicago sporting goods company Sharp & Smith in 1874. The first historical reference to the thong in post-1900's is in 1939 New York City when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ordered nude dancers to dress more appropriately. Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich was credited with introducing the modern thong back in 1974 which grew in popularity in South America, especially in Brazil. [5] In the 1990's, the thong began to gain widespread acceptance and popularity in the United States of America, amounting for sales of more than $2 billion per year in 2006. [6] More recently, men's thong wear has begun to gain popularity for fit and supportiveness, especially for activities such as running, exercising, at the gym, or as daily wear. Thong underwear for males are similar to an athletic supporter, as they both provide support while using minimum fabric. However, the typical athletic supporter is not a thong as the straps at the rear are not at the garment's center.

Types of Thongs include the traditional thong, the G-string, and V-string. There are many other styles available.

  • Traditional Thong. This style is generally the most common and involves a strip of fabric in varying widths on the rear of the garment connecting the front or pouch to the waistband.
  • G-string. This style consists of a string of fabric - as opposed to a wider-than-thick strip - connecting the front/pouch and the waistband in the rear. Some consider the terms "thong" and "g-string" to be interchangeable, though they are not identical (a g-string is a type of thong, but a thong is not necessarily a g-string).
  • V-string. Similar to the G-string, this style connects via a single string along the rear that separates into two strings just at or before the waistband or into a small triangle of fabric above the buttocks but below the waistband.
  • Dance belt. This is a type of thong designed specifically to be used in the same manner as an athletic supporter for male dancers, especially in ballet. Its purpose is to protect and support the male during athletic/dance activities without being seen through outergarments such as tights or a leotard.
  • Swimwear is also available with thong styles for both men and women.

Thongs are available in a wide variety of materials, including fleece, silk, cotton, satin, nylon, and lycra/spandex and are also available in maternity styles. Thong underwear for males has been compared to an athletic supporter as they both provide support while using a minimum of fabric, though the typical athletic supporter is not a thong as the straps at the rear are not at the garment's center.

For obvious anatomical reasons, thongs for men are cut differently than thongs for women. Some still consider the male thong to be associated with gay men, but attitudes are changing as more and more young men embrace thong underwear.[citation needed] Thong underwear for men is becoming widely available with most of the large retailers carrying a selection.

Women's thongs are widely available. Common U.S. and online retailers include Victoria's Secret, Target, Macy's, and many more. Men's thongs are less commonly found, but are available at Target, K-Mart, ShopKo, and specialty stores. Additionally, both men's and women's thongs can be readily found on eBay.

A tanga is an undergarment and swimwear for both sexes which has no material around the sides other than the waist band. A string tanga is a type of tanga swimwear which has the waist band replaced with strings which are tied. The term originated from the Kimbundu term "ntanga", meaning loincloth. This is one item of clothing that cannot be worn in dance competitions under the rules of the IDSF (International DanceSport Federation).

Woman's v-string-like thong, demonstrating the "whale tail" effect.
Woman's v-string-like thong, demonstrating the "whale tail" effect.

Attitudes to thongs are changing in most of the Western world toward more acceptance. They are becoming a regular item of underwear and thong swimsuits are seen more frequently on the beaches. The wearing of thong swimwear on the beach is fairly common in the Southern European countries and on the tropical beaches of South America and Florida. Some county and municipal governments in the United States have passed legislation generally or specifically relating to thongs, such as Huntington Beach, California, which in 2007 passed an anti-nudity ordinance that did not ban thongs.[7][8] Councilman Don Hansen assured, "we remain thong-friendly in Huntington Beach." [9]

Recent surveys place the number of American women who wear thongs as their preferred underwear style at 28%. As of 2002, thongs were the fastest-selling type of underwear for women. The appropriate age at which girls should be allowed to wear thongs can be a discordant subject. Thongs are available for girls as young as third grade.[10]

Many reasons exist why women and girls may chose to wear thong underwear or swimwear.[11] prevention of visible panty lines[12], prevention of ride up so one needn't pull at their underwear in public, doesn't ride up past jeans, fashion consciousness including the feeling of more adult and more feminine, saving storage space during travels, minimization of tan lines.

In the USA and Europe, the wearing of thongs by men was once mainly limited to the dance belt, the posing pouch and the realm of male strippers. They are now becoming common underwear for men. They are also used by men who don't want visible brief lines, such as male wrestlers who don't want visible lines under their wrestling suits. Recent surveys place the number of American men who wear thongs as their preferred underwear style at 4%.

Researching male thong wear is generally more difficult than researching the same question among females.[citation needed] Men and boys chose to wear thong underwear or swimwear for many reasons. Among them are prevention of visible brief lines, supportiveness, prevention of underwear from showing above pants[citation needed], prevention of ride up so one needn't pull at their underwear in public[citation needed], saving storage space during travels, minimization of tan lines.

Men wearing thongs in public are also becoming more common, as sun bathers who want to get an all over tan wear them to the beach. Men in thongs can be spotted on the more cosmopolitan beaches in the USA and Europe. The number of women wearing thongs or g-strings to the beach still out numbers the men by a good margin, but modern discussions of thong underwear will often refer to both men and women.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster online dictionary
  2. ^ FreshPair glossary of lingerie (T)
  3. ^ [http://www.freshpair.com/lingerie_glossary.html#G FreshPair glossary of lingerie (G)
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster online dictionary
  5. ^ Article Alley.com
  6. ^ Article Alley
  7. ^ KNBC in Los Angeles "Huntington Beach Amends Proposed Nudity Ban To Allow Thong Bikinis"
  8. ^ KNBC in Los Angeles "Huntington Beach Council To Vote On Public Nudity Ordinance"
  9. ^ OC Register "Council puts nudity ban into effect"
  10. ^ Palo Alto online
  11. ^ JS Online
  12. ^ Time Magazine

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thong_%28clothing%29#Tanga"
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